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Southington Library will celebrate the freedom to read with event

By Lisa Capobianco
Staff Writer
Southington Public Library welcomes the local community to join them in celebration of Banned Books Week during its second annual Freedom to Read Event.
Although Banned Books Week runs from September 22 to September 28, Freedom to Read will take place in the library’s cafe Thursday, Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
The event will feature Southington notables including Town Manager Garry Brumback, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Erardi, Library Board President Mary Ellen D’Angelo and many others. They will read selections from their favorite banned or challenged books including “Catcher in the Rye,” “Call of the Wild,” “Ann Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and others. Library Director Sue Smayda said the Library of Congress has included these books in its exhibit called, “Books that Shaped America,” which explores books that have “had a profound effect on American Life.”
According to the American Library Association (ALA), parents, schools and libraries may ban books to “protect” children, from controversial ideas and information.”
“While not every book is right for each reader, every reader has the right to choose reading materials for themselves…and should be able to find those materials in libraries, classrooms and bookstores,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the deputy director of the ALA’s office for intellectual freedom. “Our goal is to protect one of our most precious fundamental rights—our freedom to read.”
Anyone interested in seeing a complete list of banned or challenged books can visit the following link from the ALA’s website at: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10.